February Frazzles

Another pretty sunset captured last weekend as I looked out the 'studio' window.

It's been a busy week, but not much progress made on my tree skirt, except for a few more snowflakes tatted, and beaded ones. I'll wait until there's been more added before posting a photo.

 I did get back to my wrapping cloth, and piece #10. It's a small piece and almost finished, with just 1 more seam to titivate. Maybe some more bullions........

or maybe more buttonhole lace.......

















So what was I doing all week? I was making this:

It's a flimsy for Debra!
My first ever making anything this size ( it's on a queen-sized bed above)
It's bright, and happy, and I love how it looks.  Along the way, there was sewing, lots of frogging, air turning blue, and some frustration, but it's finished. I almost ran out of some of the fabrics I'd used. whew.
And in true Suz style, one of the blocks is a little quirky.
Someone might say I was tired and wasn't paying close enough attention. I say it's an artistic statement!
Can anyone tell I like green?
lol!
I'll be getting this out in the mail in the next day or 2. Looking forward to seeing what Debra does with this one.
Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

February Update

TIAS - day 16 and the puzzle is all put together, even though my mast is a little wonky.....  ;-)  ..it may straighten out with blocking

Shall we go sailing, you and I

Over the boundless sea?

Shall we face wind, and wet and waves?

Tell me, dear Jane, shall we?

Shall we away to wondrous lands

Where skies of blue shall be?

Where sun shines hot upon the sand?

Tell me, dear Jane, shall we?

For we've been on a journey, 

For many a happy day.

And we have built our sailing ship,

So now we must away!

 

I'll miss the TIAS, but there's always next year.....

 

In my mailbox have appeared some delightful items:

  From Sherry came this wonderful bag she'd made. I love all the pockets, and the fabric she used. Right now it hangs on my chair, waiting to be filled with my next project.
Thank you, Sherry!

 some lovely linen fabric, ribbon and trim and an ORTS bag arrived from Pat . The linen will be perfect for trying some Hardanger, and I love the trim. I have one ORTS bag beside my stitching chair and now I'll have one beside my sewing machine. Thank so much, Pat!

This fun and funky fiber Goddess came all the way from Penny in Australia.
The Goddess is pinned to my inspiration board and keeps watch over me as I work in my studio.
Thank you, Penny!

I've been stitching on my tree skirt, and creating little snowflakes:

beaded ones, large and small

Tatted snowflakes, too

silver thread ones, snowflake buttons, and a frilly one to replace the lace flower

 another tat on red and white

with silver cascades and white gimp trim

and a frilly fringe

to be a part of our new traditions

and I need much, much more....... of everything

 my tree skirt matches our weather today: blowing, snowing, and a river of snowflakes

 

Oooh, what's that??

crochet?

oh, yeah! single crochet

Ha ha!  I need some practice on my tension, ( and how not to miss those stitches on the ends..... teehee  ) but this first piece is crocheting! yay!

my second swatch looks a little better, but I tend to spread out a little......

more practice needed, but it's a start





Well, that's it for this week needle-wise

 the view out my studio window the other night was beautiful!

I caught this shot just before the colours began to fade and the sky turned to ink.

 Hope you've had a creative week

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

February Rush

Yesterday, we awoke to a sparkly world. Everything was covered with a layer of hoar frost that glinted in the sunlight.

Even though it was chilly, the sun soon melted the frost away......

In the bow window, the baby Christmas cactus is still happily blooming.

I put aside my tree skirt this week, although I wasted many hours trying to tat snowflakes for it, and tatted the TIAS instead. We're up to day 13.

 Some people are guessing it's a sail boat, while others are sure it's a butterfly.

There are several more days of tatting to come........

 At StitchMAP, we've begun our monthly hexies, and I worked first on the silk ribbon monogram.
I had difficulty creating the french knot roses, and made an alternate open rose instead.
My silk ribbon frayed quite a bit, and although I didn't mind it so much on the flowers, I really didn't like that effect on the leaves.

I am pleased with the result of my embroidered monogram.

My design samples  have been accepted for the HEX LABS and I'll be spending some time writing up the directions, but I hope next week to have made some progress on the tree skirt as well as my wrapping cloth.

I hope you have some creative time this week.
May you have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Winter, TIAS and CQJP

Mother Nature is still blasting us with winter weather:

Another 5 inches of snow landed over the weekend

with more in the forecast

 I hope everyone in hotter climes feels a bit cooler looking at these photos

Taken through the window.......

enough snow, I say.........

Oh, well, it does afford a nice excuse to stay indoors and stitch......


Even so, I've not managed much stitching on the CQJP this past week, but I did add a little:

silver snowflakes cascading across the fabrics

a pretty, clear snowflake on a thread dangle and silver beads on the white, lacy trim

a medium-sized tatted snowflake with a crystal center and silver sparkles

and this is how the 1st piece of quadrant 1 looks so far.........with a special button added to the embroidered snowflake......

As Debra suggested, I did a couple of mock-ups:  white and red on red, and white on white in this photo.....a bit crowded and busy-looking

 on this photo I added white on red and red on white.....there are fewer elements, but it's difficult for me to tell how busy this might look overall. I do like how this 'reads'.....

 So, I've decided to do the white-on-red snowflakes and embellishments for now. When completed, I'll decide then if I want to add red on the white fabrics.

The TIAS has reached day 11 of the pattern, and we've now completed two pieces, and will begin a third or begin joining these together--I'm not sure which........
I'm still stumped!






I hope today to begin my HEX LABS stitching.
That's all for this week.
Have you had a stitchy week?  I hope so.


Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

January Ending- Stitching and Snow

It would seem my large Christmas cactus doesn't know what month it is, as it's just begun to bloom........ it always bloomed in October in previous years, but maybe it's just adapting to the new house......

we had more snow this weekend..............another 5" or so, blowing all over and making the roads slippery, and with lots of cold temperatures.......very unusual for this area, so we're told.......but a lot like where we used to live.......

these goldfinch were gobbling up the bird seed.....even in the blowing wind

I love the shadows on the snow.....

see the pathway? it's almost all filled in again, just an hour or two after I shoveled it........

in a calm moment, I caught these 'arms' reaching out......

 even the baby cactus has begun to flower

the pelargoniums like the light from the livingroom window......  I have several pots I dug up from the front garden bed and decided to overwinter indoors.......













As January comes to an end, I realize I'm still behind on my tree skirt.

This layered tat was added over a poinsettia flower. I love that fabric!

french knots all along this edging. I like the bits of colour and design peeking through those openings......

and 1 lonely cast-on stitch was added (more to come)

and that's all the progress I made on this first portion of the first quarter piece







I did, however, finish piecing the second quarter of the skirt

It's ready for stitching......whenever I get that far ....lol



There was other stitching for StitchMAP which I can't show just yet......

We've just received our first pdfs for our HEX LABS ( this will be a year-long project with a choice of 3 designs each month to stitch on a hex piece. Minimum is 1 choice/month.) so I shall also post my progress on the HEX LABS stitching.

Here's the second piece of the TIAS as of day 8. I still don't know what it will be, but I'm having fun trying to solve the puzzle.
Do you have a guess, too?

With all the snow and blowing winds, and unseasonably cold temperatures, it's a good excuse reason to stay indoors and stitch!
Wishing everyone a Happy February!

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz